After the Fact
by Teddy R. Lupin
Summary: "As the man disappeared into the crowd, Donna couldn't shake the feeling that she had somehow lost the most important thing in her life." A series of moments between the Doctor and his best friend, Donna Noble.
1. Journey's End

This is the first Doctor Who fic I've ever written, and it's only being posted because my co-author wanted me to do so. It takes place sometime after Journey's End, and probably before Waters of Mars. Just a snapshot in the intertwined lives of the Doctor and Donna.

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Donna Noble was nothing special, until she was whisked away by The Doctor. She saw countless worlds, met many strange and wonderful beings...she saved the world as we know it...until...one day...she was again, nobody...simply "the-girl-who-missed-everything" once more. Some part of her felt that this was wrong, that there was something she had once been but was no longer...that she _had_ been special.

At times she would catch her mother looking at her strangely, or a sympathetic glance from her gramps, as if they didn't quite know what to make of her. But...that was absurd...wasn't it? She was Donna...just..._Donna._ She wasn't special or brilliant...or...anything. She hoped that one day this would all make sense. And then...it did.

She had just been walking through Trafalgar Square, minding her own business when she had bumped into someone... a man. She glanced up to apologise and froze. He looked so familiar and yet at the same time, she had never seen him before in her life. And the expression on his face... It made her want to cry. But that was stupid...wasn't it?

The Doctor had parked the TARDIS securely, hiding her out of sight with a flick of his sonic screwdriver and heading down the Heart of London. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would be able to find solace, comeuppance for what had been done. For leaving Rose, for _Donna_...for all those he would never see again. Because of a cruel twist of fate. Three years ago, he had regenerated. Three years ago, he'd felt a part of something, that Christmas. That bloody Christmas Day, when everything changed. He still couldn't bring himself to the Powell Estate, not even to walk by it...only to know that the Tylers were gone from this world.

He sighed, and felt the cool London breeze blow through his hair. He gave a reluctant smile - he'd suffered too much, lost too much...he had to try to cheer up, didn't he? But...as soon as the smile had been plastered onto his thin face, it slipped away at the head of orange hair naught but two feet in front of him. His face was a mixture of emotions - relief that she was safe, sadness that she didn't know - could never know - who he was, and fear, that if she saw him, she would recognise him, and therefore she would die. But even so...he couldn't resist...

"Donna?" he breathed out, grimacing at himself, wishing almost immediately that he hadn't spoken.

"Yes?" Her tone was brusque. "That's my name. Do I know you?" She covered her confusion with attitude, as she had been doing all her life. And she was...this man, this _stranger_ was so familiar to her...his name was on the tip of her tongue... No...not a _name_...a title. She stared at him and the world spun and suddenly... Everything started to fall into place.

His brown eyes didn't falter from hers, and in her irises he saw the comprehension dawn. "No!" he forced out, "No, Donna!" It killed him that she could never know...but it would kill her if she did, kill her quickly, painfully...and he couldn't have another death on his hands. He couldn't be responsible for losing someone else. Not after the massacre. Not after the genocide, not after everything that had happened...maybe she wouldn't remember, but she would be alive. Not ever fully whole, but _alive_...that was the most he could do, he owed Wilf for everything. And he owed Donna, for giving him the best friend he'd ever had - herself.

To prevent her from collapsing, The Doctor grasped her shoulder. "I'm Doctor John Smith, Donna," he lied through his teeth. "That's all I am, I'm a friend, of your grandfather's."

Doctor...yes...that was right... "Doctor?" Her voice was hoarse and a frown marred her brow. "Smith?" Smith...Smith...Oh! Of course... _That _was why he looked familiar. "Yes... Yes I do know you... You were talking to Mum that day..." Her head stopped whirling finally and she straightened, embarrassed at her momentary weakness. "Thank you, Doctor. I...I don't know what came over me."

He released his hold on her shoulder and smiled, that sad smile he saved for his companions. Even if they didn't remember how close of friends they had been, how much they had been through together. The Doctor knew he shouldn't continue, he should move on, probably get back to the TARDIS...leave Earth...hmm, Adipose 3 was nice this time of year, oh, New Earth was always brilliant...even Barcelona, Diadem...beautiful, _gorgeous_ places...

But of course the Doctor didn't listen to his mind. He'd let it rule too many things, too many choices. Maybe...having his heart in control for once wasn't such a bad thing. "I...well...I...yeah." He scratched the back of his neck, looking back at her. "Yeah, I was." He cleared his throat. He had to get out of there. "Take care, Donna."

"And you," she responded automatically. As the man disappeared into the crowd, Donna couldn't shake the feeling that she had somehow lost the most important thing in her life. She tried to shake the feeling off, but as she started walking again, she could not help casting glances back over her shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who had seemed so very sad for no reason that she could fathom. She resolved to ask her mother about "Doctor John Smith" the next time she went over for tea. But, almost as soon as the thought was made, it slipped from her mind and she was left staring off into space.

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Well, let me know what you think, if it was any good or whatnot. I'm rather new to the fandom as a whole, but the friendship between the Doctor and Donna has been one of my favourite aspects of the show. Please review!

Cheers,

Teddy


	2. Forest of the Dead

Hullo again. I know that it seemed like "After the Fact" was a one-shot, and...er...it was. But my friend and I had almost too much fun writing it, and...well, of course we had to post it. ^^

Thanks to _**adorkable-mommie**_, _**mollygibbs101**_, and another unnamed Anonymous reviewer. Your comments meant so much (for my confidence, on my part), and this chapter is for you.

This chapter is a missing scene from the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" story arc.

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Donna muttered angrily as she followed the "babbling idiot." Really, he could have at _least_ been more polite about things. It wasn't _her_ fault she'd gotten "killed" and ended up in a hallucination thing. No, that was _his_ fault. And then he'd had the _audacity_ to insinuate...

She almost growled.

The Doctor stared at the journal of River Song. The woman – _that fiesty woman_ – who had given her life for him. It was supposed to be him. He was supposed to die. He could regenerate. She was human, she could not. And most of all...she'd meant something to him. Not on this mission, no...he'd barely met her. But he _had_ known her, and she had meant more than anything to him. Not even the only woman he'd ever fully loved knew his name.

What had been so special about this woman? Why had she known his true identity? And why, then, had he given her his sonic screwdriver?

He picked up the device with shaking hands. It was real. It wasn't just a parlour trick, it was a real, legitimate sonic screwdriver. A tear fell from his eye – it wasn't fair. None of it was fair.

Loss wasn't fair.

Donna quickened her pace, still ranting under her breath to berate the Doctor for his insensitivity. But upon noticing his expression the anger drained away, and she placed a gentle hand on his arm. "I'm sorry," she murmured quietly. The woman, River Song, had obviously known the Doctor but...she knew a different version...an older version... The look on her face when Donna had asked about herself had scared the redhead more than she cared to admit. What_ had_ that woman known? About any of them?

"I..." The Doctor set River's sonic screwdriver down beside the diary - "Spoilers," she'd said – and when he finally met Donna's no-longer-angry gaze, he looked so lost, and so desperate. Yet another person had died for him, _instead_ of him...and here he was. She was gone. "I didn't even know who she was," whispered the tall, thin man. "She knew who I was, Donna. She knew _everything_..."

It was an unspoken explanation, something that needed it not. It meant enough. He had never even gotten the chance to tell Rose everything. About his family, about his past, his _name_...but this woman had known it all. River Song. That was a name he would certainly remember in the years to come, and he swore on her diary, on those spoilers hidden inside, that he would keep a watch for this woman, this girl who might just save his life.

Not sure what to say... not sure if there was anything she _could_ say, Donna simply patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she repeated finally. There wasn't much else to say but that, was there? And certainly not to the Doctor, not to the man who was essentially a mystery. The man she could legitimately list as her best friend. "Maybe...maybe you'll see her again?" Donna sighed. It was false comfort, really...he'd just watched this woman die...

Feeling her hand on his shoulder, the Doctor stood up straighter and grasped her hand in his as he wiped falsely concealed tears that had fallen in silence. "I will see her again," he said quietly. "But not…not like this." He'd meant to explain regeneration, meant to explain the whole thing…but he couldn't. Couldn't say anything about it, she wouldn't understand. "Donna, at some point in the future I'll…" He swallowed and shook his head, looking down at his trainers. "Then I'll meet her again." Maybe that in itself was something to look forward to.

Donna offered him a smile. "Well, you've got that to look forward to..." As for herself... The orange-haired woman shivered. She wouldn't think about it, that was all. She'd find out soon enough. Dwelling would get her nowhere. "Shall we go cause havoc somewhere else Spaceman?" she asked with a grin.

He pushed River's diary and screwdriver from his reach, so he would not be tempted by the mysterious "spoilers" that now hung over his head, and turned to beam at his companion. "Yeah," he said, backing up and taking a few steps up towards the TARDIS. "After all, the universe is wide open! Where do you propose we start?"

"Wherever I say will not be where we end _up_, so...anywhere?" The redhead followed him into the TARDIS, shoving him playfully. "You never take us where you say we're going to go, so I gave up picking a place a long time ago."

"Oi!" The Doctor looked quite offended at her statement, and pretended as such for a few seconds before he began to laugh. Oh, things would never change. Donna Noble would never change. He lightly shoved her back, before taking her hand and pulling her into his arms. They were never particularly affectionate – as they were quite obviously only friends – but sometimes moments like these were necessary. When he needed someone to hold, someone to save him...and she needed someone to believe in her, someone to tell her how brilliant she was...and for each other, the Doctor and Donna were those people.

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Heh, well. And if you thought my emotions were sort of...empty, I've never particularly liked River Song, so it was pretty difficult for me to write.

The next chapter is coming up much quicker than this, which has only taken this long because I was too lazy to edit and post. That happens to me far too much...but oi, I'm a second semester senior who has no aspirations in life 'cause I'm not going to college for another year..

Cheers,

Teddy


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